The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to electrical connectors that terminate ribbon cables to printed circuit boards.
In electronic systems that include printed circuit boards (sometimes referred to as “circuit boards”), ribbon cables are sometimes used to electrically connect a printed circuit board to another component. For example, ribbon cables may be used to electrically connect the printed circuit board to another printed circuit board and/or to supply the printed circuit board with electrical power from an electrical power source. Traditional ribbon cables include insulated cylindrical wires that are aligned in a row and connected together at the insulation layers to define the ribbon structure of the cable. Many electronic systems currently use miniaturized forms of traditional ribbon cables, which are commonly referred to as “flat flexible cables”, “flat flex circuits”, “flat flexible conductor cables”, “flex cables”, “flex circuits”, and “flexible flat cables”.
Ribbon cables are electrically connected to printed circuit boards in a variety of manners. Some ribbon cables are permanently connected to a printed circuit board by soldering exposed electrical conductors of the ribbon cable directly to electrical contacts of the printed circuit board. But, such permanent connections may be undesirable. For example, if the ribbon cable fails, the printed circuit board may be scrapped along with the ribbon cable, or vice versa, because of the difficulty of disconnecting the ribbon cable from the printed circuit board. Moreover, it may be necessary to connect the ribbon cable to the printed circuit board before the printed circuit board is installed in a larger system because of a limited amount of space within the system available to perform the soldering operation. Connecting the ribbon cable to the printed circuit board before installation may make it more difficult to install the printed circuit board or other components of the larger system.
Some known ribbon cables are electrically connected to a printed circuit board using electrical connector systems that provide a separable connection between the ribbon cable and the printed circuit board. For example, such electrical connector systems may include a connector mounted on the printed circuit board and another connector that terminates an end of the ribbon cable. Electrical contacts of the connectors mate together to electrically connect the ribbon cable to the printed circuit board. But, such electrical connector systems may be larger than is desired. For example, the demand for smaller and smaller electronic devices may result in less available space within the device to accommodate the printed circuit board and the various connections thereto. Accordingly, there may be less space available for accommodating both the connector mounted on the printed circuit board and the connector that terminates the ribbon cable.